Lawyer: French Islamic Group had no connection with Toulouse shooter-CNN

Mohammed Merah killed seven people in a series of attacks.New: Lawyer: The Forsane Alizza group aims to protection of the rights of Muslims in Islamic group leader says it had no FranceThe of contact with shooter Merah, his lawyer Forsane says19 suspected members of the Group were arrested, saidPolice authorities have examined Friday Alizza or Merah, blamed 7 death, acted alone

Paris (CNN) -the leader of an Islamic group whose members were in a number of French police raids targeted denies any contact with Toulouse shooter Mohammed Merah, lawyer Philippe Missamou said Saturday.

The leader of the group, Mohammed Forsane Achamlane Alizza, was one of the 19 people arrested Friday over alleged connections with radical Islam, Missamou said.

The raids came a week after Merah, which killed seven people in a series of attacks, death after a long siege in the southwestern city of Toulouse was shot.

French media reports that had connections with the proposed Merah pro-al Qaeda group, which has developed a cluster of followers in Toulouse.

Forsane Alizza was banned in January for encouraging French citizens to travel to Afghanistan to fight jihad.

Missamou told CNN that he had last talked to Achamlane on Monday.

Achamlane told him that at this time the Group had not contact Merah, and that it had nothing to do with the Merah murders in Toulouse, Missamou said.

Achamlane said the Group has no support for armed struggle, said the lawyer.

Missamou expects to be allowed to meet with members of the group, which he has represented since January, on Monday or Tuesday.

After that they will be put before a judge and either placed under with costs, or released pending further investigations, he said.

Missamou disputed claim that all of the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrested 19 people, saying that several members were not Forsane Alizza.

Friday the arrests took place in Toulouse, Marseille, Nantes, Lyon and the Ile de France region, around Paris, said the Ministry of internal affairs.

Of the Ministry media office said: "the police had plans to carry out arrests 19, and therefore 19 arrests were made in connection with the Group Forsane Alizza."

Interior Minister Claude Gueant said that several firearms, including five assault rifles, four automatic weapons and three Kalashnikovs, had found in searches of the suspects houses, as well as a bulletproof vest.

Missamou said he had no information about the progress that firearms were found.

He also said he didn't know whether the members of the group have spent time in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

The lawyer disputes the characterization of the group as a dangerous, say that it works on contest perceived injustice of the French State.

Its members claim that France doesn't recognize the multicultural, multiracial and multi-religious nature of the land, and passes laws aimed at Muslims in France, he said.

Police have acted alone in planning are investigated or Merah attacks.

He is blamed for the murder of three French paratroopers, a Rabbi and three Jewish children ages 4, 5 and 7. Two other people were seriously injured in the shooting.

Merah told police he had attended an al-Qaeda training camp during a visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins.

But his uncle, Jamal Azizi, denied statements by the French authorities that Merah was a sympathizer of al-Qaeda and that he had travelled to Afghanistan or Pakistan train to weapons use.

Merah was Thursday buried in a cemetery outside Toulouse.

CNN's Anna Prichard contributed to this report.

updated 9: 12 AM EDT, Fri 23 March 2012 missed vital clues such as French intelligence services Mohammed Merah showed signs of growing radicalization? 12: 11 PM EDT, Thu, 22 March 2012 updated de Toulouse shootings refocus on fears that are determined, attackers trained live legally in the West and operational alone. updated 7: 38 AM EDT, Thu, 22 March 2012 ' Lone wolves ' who plot to carry out small-scale attacks on soft targets to would the future of terrorism, a security expert warns. updated 10: 32 AM EDTmaart2012, Fri 23 Mohammed Merah, described as a self-proclaimed al Qaeda jihadist, was named as the main suspect in a series of deadly shootings. updated 12: 08 PM EDT, Thu, 22 March 2012 CNN investigates whether the approach of the crisis affect the presidential poll. updated 6: 30 PM EDT, di will be March 20, 2012 In the pink-hued streets of Toulouse, France's Ville Rose "flags fly at half-mast": the city is in mourning--and shock. 12: 08 AM EDT, Tue March 20, 2012 updated Toulouse is at the highest security alert level, after a teacher and three children were shot on a Jewish school. updated 7: 51 PM EDT, Mon March 19, 2012 Agnes Poirier, a political commentator , talk about the disbelief in France after the deadly drive-by shooting in a school in Toulouse. updated EDTDo 6: 06 AM, 22 March 2012 out of nowhere a gunman appeared in the courtyard of a Jewish school in the French city just as students arrive for morning classes were.Most popular stories now

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